What Is The Reality Of Mental Toughness?
Mental toughness is needed to compete at the highest level and to achieve your max athletic potential.
Mental toughness is a developed skill that allows athletes to push through difficult circumstances without losing confidence and the ability to play at peak levels during crunch-time.
But there is a common question many athletes ask mental coaches: “I play so poorly under pressure but isn’t mental toughness a characteristic that athletes are just born with?”
You see a few basketball players with the knack of sinking the buzzer beaters to win the game…
Or those special baseball players that hit clutch walk-off hits in extra innings…
Or the soccer goal keeper who is able to make the critical game-saving stop to secure victory.
There are four faulty assumptions athletes make regarding mental toughness:
- Mentally tough athletes perform successfully in the clutch every time.
- Since I fall apart under pressure, I will fall apart under pressure every time.
- Mental toughness is an inborn characteristic.
- Either an athlete is mentally tough or they are not.
The reality is “Mental Toughness” is not something you have; it’s something you do. Mental toughness is a skill and skills can be developed.
Mental toughness is learned, just like its opposite, fear.
In fact, we are born with only two fears: fear of falling and fear of loud noises. All other fears are learned.
If we learn fear, we can learn its opposite… mental toughness!
The next question asked by athletes is: “How can I develop mental toughness?”
First of all, mental toughness is not an all-or-nothing proposition (“I’m mentally tough or I’m not mentally tough”). There are varying degrees of mental toughness.
So when you are developing your mental toughness, you need to realize that the process does not happen overnight, but well worth the investment.
Think of physical strength… Physical strength or building muscle requires resistance or weight training. Mental muscle is developed the exact same way by overcoming resistance, obstacles or challenges.
By developing a mental training regimen, taking daily action and having patience, you will be on your way to becoming a mentally tougher athlete.
Try these tips to build your mental toughness skills:
- Tip #1: Define what mental toughness means to you. Select 1-2 mental toughness characteristics that you want to improve (managing emotions, breaking out of your comfort zone, letting go of mistakes). Create a written plan for improvement. Name specific methods and strategies you will use to further develop these specified areas.
- Tip #2: Create a scoring system to evaluate your progress. How exactly will you measure your progress and how often? You can use a letter or number grade once a week or grade yourself after each practice.
Remember that improving your mental toughness is a process. Some days, you may revert back to your old patterns… That is a part of growth. Regroup and work your plan!
Successful athletes have learned to stop performance anxiety and play with ultimate composure. We’ve created The Composed Athlete, Workbook and CD program to help you do this.
Boost Your Self-Confidence With Mental Game Coaching!
Master mental game coach, Dr. Patrick Cohn, can help you or your athlete(s), ages 12 and up, overcome mental game issues with personal coaching.
You can work with Dr. Patrick Cohn himself in Orlando, Florida or via Skype, FaceTime, or telephone. Call us toll free at 888-742-7225 or contact us for more information about the different coaching programs we offer!
What are our students saying?
“WOW!!! What a week I had. I was able to perform with a confidence that allowed my style to shine through–no more entering the arena with that “deer in the headlights” look or feeling. I stopped evaluating myself while I was performing, and I actually left the arena after my patterns feeling like I had experienced a lot of fun. Thank you so much.”
~Julia Dreyer, National Champion Equestrian
For All Athletes – Learn Confidence-Boosting Techniques!
D you have a negative self-image of yourself as an athlete that stifles confidence?
No matter ow positive you try to be, are you unable to shake the doubt that rushes into your head when you size up your competition?
Have you labeled yourself as a loser, poor closer, or mediocre athlete and these labels keep you stuck in a rut of self-pity and indecision?
If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, check out The Confident Athlete!
The Confident Athlete CD and workbook program is a 14-day plan for ultimate self-confidence. This program is ideal for any athlete or coach that wants to discover proven confidence-boosting techniques guaranteed to drastically build self-confidence and improve sports performance.
Learn more about one of our most popular CD programs in The Confident Athlete Series…
The Confident Athlete: A 14-Day Plan For Ultimate Self-Confidence
Check out all of the products in The Confident Athlete Series!
What are customers saying?
“I first purchased The Confident Athlete to see how the program went and immediately saw results. I then purchased the rest of the confident athlete series and have noticed a dramatic improvement in my level of play or should I say consistency. I currently play NCAA Division 1 baseball for Lamar University, and even my coaches have noticed a change in the way that I approach the game. My attitude and confidence at the plate.”
~Tylor Prudhomme (Listen to his success story)
“I am a ASP world qualifying professional surfer and after beginning the ‘The Confident Athlete’ I had an almost instant change in attitude about my own surfing ability and my mindset going into competition. By using the Confident Athlete strategies, my confidence has done a complete 180 degrees. I won a local pro/am a few weeks back, and just had my best result of the year in one the last big events on the world circuit this last week in Brazil! It is my secret weapon!”
~Shaun Burrell, Professional Surfer (Listen to his success story)
For Young Athletes and Parents – Learn More About How to Help Kids Improve Confidence Quickly!
We’ve got a great program for you called “The Confident Sports Kid: A 7-Day Plan for Building Ultimate Self-Confidence.”
The Confident Sports Kid is a 7-day program for sports parents and kids to boost young athlete’s performance, happiness and success… in sports and life!
The Confident Sports Kid is two programs in one. There’s a manual and CD for parents/coaches, and a workbook/CD for young athletes.
Packed with mental strategies that you and your kids can start using immediately, this program teaches your athletes how to identify confidence busters, proactively deal with them, manage expectations that undermine confidence, and mentally prepare to stay confident when faced with adversity.
What’s more, our program teaches you, as sports parents and coaches, how you may be hurting your kids’ confidence and gives you instructions for changing your behavior in ways that will improve your athletes’ performance, confidence and enjoyment.
Learn more about one of our most popular CD programs in The Confident Sports Kid Series…
The Confident Sports Kid: A 7-Day Plan for Building Ultimate Self-Confidence
Check out all of our products in The Confident Sports Kid Series!
What are parents and coaches saying about our program?
“I appreciate the advice to parents as to how to help your child become more mentally resilient to bullying in sports. The specific advice and scenarios are extremely helpful for any child on a team and very helpful in guiding parents, coaches and administrators in how to deal with bullying in sports. I cannot thank you enough for your input, and I am so reassured to know that there are people like you who are writing articles and doing interviews on such timely and important matters.”
~Julie Goot
“Dr. Patrick Cohn and Lisa Cohn are to be congratulated! Together, they offer a wealth of knowledge, information, and practical mental tools for sports parents on the substantial “mental game” challenges and pressures facing today’s young athletes.”
~Marc D. Anderson, LCSW, MGCP, Mental Game Coach
For Mental Coaches – Add More Value To Your Mental Training Programs!
This workbook series was designed for coaches and mental coaches to use with their athletes.
The Athlete’s Mental Edge workbooks complement your existing mental training program. Each of the 15 workbooks in the Athlete’s Mental Edge System teaches your athletes a specific mental skill to improve their performance.
For mental coaches, this system is ideal for between session education.
For sports coaches, you’ll be able to conduct 15 team seminars using the workbook system.
In the Athlete’s Mental Edge workbook system, you receive 15 easy-to-read, practical Mental Edge Workbooks on PDF, as well as 16 coaches’ game plan MP3 audio files.
Athlete’s Mental Edge Workbook System
What are coaches saying?
“I am really pleased with the Athlete’s Mental Edge workbooks – they are fitting in really well with my coaching! I find they offer a great framework for doing workshop sessions. I have also used the workbooks with a few individual athletes – for the younger ones (12 and under). They are giving a good structure and framework to our sessions. The workbooks have worked well with all of them!”
~Kerri Morgan, Mental Game Coach
“I am impressed with the willingness and openness of Dr. Cohn to share all of his assets (intellectual, products, etc.) with the MGCP students. You have developed an incredible model/package for mental training. Even though we are paying for your service, you are passing on a legacy built on your contribution to the world of sports. Thank you for that.”
~Tony Melito, MGCP